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Rob Crowther

@robertcrowther.bsky.social

Software Developer who likes retro games, non-retro games and American Football.

414 Posts177 Follower265 Folgt
Dr Holly Nielsen@hollynielsen.bsky.social · 3d ago

“It also detected an “unintended consequence” of the ban: the proportion of parents who didn’t know their child had used social media increased by 10%.” Well who could have possibly seen that happening.

Ben Schwarz@benschwarz.bsky.social · 3d ago

Australia’s eSafety commissioner buried a report (released Friday afternoon) that shows the under 16 social media ban didn’t tangibly reduce teen social media use, and also resulted in parents tuning out of kids usage. We traded our privacy for no reason. theconversation.com/more-than-80...

Iain Mew@superchartisland.com · 3d ago

After Richard Paul Jones proved too capitalist for Jeff Minter, his Interceptor Micros became an early British games success story. In 1987, its success continued thanks to Colin Swinbourne's smart way with building on Spectrum classics. New post on Joe Blade: www.superchartisland.com/joe-blade

Joe Blade – “Prime the explosives”

The increasing success of Code Masters in 1987 prompted rounds of coverage of the Darling brothers as young business whizz-kids. They were far from the first such story. The next new game at #1 aft…

superchartisland.com

Rob Crowther@robertcrowther.bsky.social · 5d ago

This week for #RandomGameSaturday a game that arrived in the post yesterday: Roguecraft GB from @thalamusdigital.bsky.social Roguecraft GB running on my GBA showing the menu

The box for Roguecraft GB by Shane McCafferty from ThalamusThe sleeve of Roguecraft GB spread out so the back is visible, the back shows a couple of screenshots and some copy. Also shown the cartridge made from clear plastic and the instruction booklet.Roguecraft GB running on my GBA showing the menuRoguecraft GB running on my GBA showing an early level
Rob Crowther@robertcrowther.bsky.social · 2w ago

For #RandomGameSaturday here is Sim Earth from Maxis for the #Amiga. I had been seriously addicted to Sim City and was hoping for more of the same, but this game never really clicked with me. One thing I do like is that, even in this budget re-release, the game comes with a text book sized manual.

Richard Horne@richrap3d.bsky.social · 5d ago

Handheld MiSTer testing has gone well this week. 2 x 21700 Battery cells and life is looking around 10 to 11 hours on the PlayStation Core. The Gameboy is looking like 12 Hours. Zaparoo front end is looking really good too.

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Richard Horne@richrap3d.bsky.social · last wk.

We have reached a significant milestone in the Handheld MiSTerFPGA (Pocket) project. It’s working! StarWars (Vector Arcade) running on the first issue prototype. More updates soon.

Game Maker's Toolkit@gamemakerstoolkit.com · last wk.

Well, it finally happened! After 9 years of Unity dominance, Godot was the most used game engine for GMTK Game Jam 2026 submissions. 🤖 Godot - 47% 🎮 Unity - 34% 🛠️GameMaker - 5% 🚀 Unreal Engine - 3% ✨ Other - 11%

Pie chart showing game engines used to create 10,511 GMTK Game Jam games in 2026. Godot has the largest slice with 47%. Then Unity with 34%. Other with 11%. Game Maker with 5%. And Unreal Engine with 3%.
Iain Mew@superchartisland.com · last wk.

In 1983, a couple of 15 year old programmers with a pragmatic streak made a virtual board game in Basic and won a national TV competition. Four years later, they made their first UK #1 game of many. New post on the Oliver Twins and Grand Prix Simulator: www.superchartisland.com/grand-prix-simulator

Grand Prix Simulator – “Cunningly devised circuits”

In its January 1984 issue, Computer & Video Games magazine printed code listings for nine different games, ready for readers to type into their computers and run. Each of the nine programs was …

superchartisland.com

Sedge [ΘΔ]@sedge.bsky.social · 2w ago

#RandomGameSaturday Today is my birthday so I have a story about a gift. I received the original Baldur's Gate back in '99. I've never gotten to play it. The PC we had at the time couldn't handle it. I was new to PC gaming and didn't know to check specs since everything had worked til then.

The original Baldur's Gate on PC. Slightly visible behind it are Worms 2, Heroes of Might & Magic II, and Grand Theft Auto.
Rob Crowther@robertcrowther.bsky.social · 2w ago

Fascinating thread, describing game development during a time when I was still full of hope about Kickstarter and Early Access. It did work out well on a few occasions.

Jim Rossignol@rossignol.bsky.social · 2w ago

One thing I never did was a post-mortem of Sir. Perhaps this is as good a time and place as any to talk about some of that. It started in 2010 when Channel 4 had some money to spend on making educational games. For some reason they asked me. ->thread

The Centre for Computing History@computinghistory.org.uk · 2w ago

Can you spot the Z80? 👀 A throwback to our Z80 at 50 event, celebrating the machines and technology powered by this legendary microprocessor. Thank you to everyone who helped make the event happen, to our wonderful volunteers, and everyone who came along to celebrate with us. 👏

A museum exhibit displaying vintage and early personal computers, video game consoles, and CRT monitors, with several computers running retro games and educational displays about the history of computing in the background.A museum display of vintage MSX home computers and gaming systems, including MSX2, MSX2+, and MSX Turbo R computers connected to CRT monitors showing retro video games.A museum exhibit featuring vintage and modern home computers and electronics, including experimental and microcomputer projects, CRT monitors displaying computer graphics, and two people standing behind the display.Bild
Rob Crowther@robertcrowther.bsky.social · 2w ago

For #RandomGameSaturday here is Sim Earth from Maxis for the #Amiga. I had been seriously addicted to Sim City and was hoping for more of the same, but this game never really clicked with me. One thing I do like is that, even in this budget re-release, the game comes with a text book sized manual.

The front of the box for Sim Earth: the Living Planet from Maxis for the CBM Amiga. This is the Hit Squad Platinum Edition, which seems to mean it is a budget re-release, but a posh one. The box has a stylised picture of the Earth from space, which accentuates the atmosphere, and the title of the game and a Maxis logo above. Down the right side are some 'platinum' coloured lines with a 'Platinum Edition' and a 'Hit Squad' logo and between them a couple of screen shots. This was common branding for these sort of releases.The back of the box, more 'platinum' lines but this time on the left. There is another 'Platinum Edition' logo in the middle of four screenshots on top of the lines. On the box to the right is blurb about the game. To one side of this is the manual with the same art as the front of the box, interestingly this has Maxis and Ocean logos and does not mention Hit Squad, I presume they didn't bother reprinting it. Below this the two 3.5" floppy disks with the game itself and the quick start guide.The credits and contents page in the first few pages of the ring bound manual. The introduction and tutorial covers the first 45 pages, then there is a reference section which continues until page 148.Towards the back of the manual a section titled 'An Introduction to Earth Science' which fills the last 50 pages. This is then followed by appendices and index, I suspect this is one of the most comprehensive manuals you'll ever see for a videogame.
Rob Crowther@robertcrowther.bsky.social · 3w ago

They think it's all over, and it is tomorrow, so one last soccer themed #RandomGameSaturday from me: International Superstar Soccer for the #GBA This is a recent acquisition (as is my Game Boy Advance) but I did play the N64 version quite a bit in the late 90s.